Constans
by Bebedora
Summary: When the world has been turned upside-down, and the person who holds your heart needs your support, you'd think it would come naturally. But life doesn't always work that way, and your emotions can run rampant in the middle of the night. [[CHAPTER 9 SPOILERS]] [[COMPLETE]]


Constans

 _Constans-unwavering_

Thin drapes billowed on the sea breeze, the scent of salty sea air wafting around the room. Stars twinkled in the sky, dimming with each passing moment as the sun came closer to cresting on the horizon. The room was dark, only faint tendrils of waning moonlight illuminating the area. Waves lapped against the shores, nocturnal ocean birds trilled in the distance. Altissia was quiet, even after the chaos that had ensued the day before.

The lone figure in the bed rested peacefully, despite the injuries he had sustained less than twenty-four hours prior. A well-timed round of pain medication had seen to that. Rolls of gauze and a suture kit sat on the nightstand, a small container of salve rested beside the supplies.

Gladio approached the bed, smashing his kneecap on the heavy wooden frame. He swore with a hushed hiss, reaching down to massage his aching leg. The figure on the mattress stirred slightly at the commotion, but did not wake. As he sat, Gladio set a glass of water on the nightstand.

Strong hands reached out and intertwined fingers with the sleeping man. Gladio massaged his thumb over the soft skin, rubbing away a patch of dried blood. The crimson flecks fell onto the thin blanket covering the bed's occupant. Sitting there, staring at the obscured face of the man who had stolen his heart, Gladio finally began to feel the pangs of fatigue that had been threatening him for the last few hours. He wouldn't give in. Not until he knew it was safe to rest.

His mind wandered, bringing up memories of the last day…

… _The doctor slid the needle from Ignis' vein, a small drop of blood hanging on to the sharp tip. The young man's struggling immediately began to wane as the pain medication took hold of him. Gladio just wanted him to be comfortable. He knew Ignis had to be in complete agony. As the drugs dragged him under, his body went limp and his breathing calmed. After a few moments, the doctor decided it was safe to proceed._

 _Ignis' face was bloodied; the angry burn around his left eye showing no signs the swelling would abate anytime soon. Dried blood streaked across his face from several deep lacerations. Dozens more small wounds peppered his chest and arms, their cause unknown. His skull necklace glittered against his bare skin, despite the blood caked on the chain. When Gladio found him, Ignis had already lost his fight to stay conscious. His glasses had lain beside his head, broken and spattered with blood. There was no way of knowing what had happened until he came back—if he came back._

 _The doctor carefully dabbed the cuts on his chest with a square of antiseptic-soaked gauze, inspecting each one carefully under the portable medical lamp she had brought along. The power situation in Altissia was spotty at best in the aftermath of Leviathan's rage, and she come prepared. One-by-one, she cleansed wounds, closing one on his shoulder with a few stitches. She then moved upwards, directing her attention to his face._

" _Would you please hand me those cotton swabs?"_

 _Gladio obeyed, trying to hide the shake in his hands as he gave her the supplies._

 _The doctor squeezed a bit of ointment onto the swab and applied it to the cut on the bridge of Ignis' nose. "I won't be able to suture this one, so you'll just have to watch it for infection. Same goes with his lip."_

 _Gladio tiredly nodded in acknowledgement. He knew Ignis wouldn't be able to take care of it himself._

" _Now, let's take a look at his eyes." She leaned forward and gently palpated Ignis' cheekbones, checking for signs of fracture. Pulling down on his right lower eyelid with a careful finger, she exposed a cloudy eye, flecked with streaks of crimson. The pupil was blown wide. Blood oozed from his tear duct as she pressed gently on his flesh._

 _Gladio forced himself to look. His voice was quiet. "Can he see?"_

" _I don't believe so, at least not at the moment." She shined a penlight across his face, trying to get his pupil to react. She scowled when it didn't constrict. "There's major damage here. It may heal over time, but I doubt he'll ever regain full vision on the right side."_

 _Gladio didn't respond. He couldn't._

 _She moved on to the left side, running her fingers over the puckered scar tissue already forming. A quick swipe of antiseptic cleansed the area. Using both hands, she gently pried his eyelids open. The eyelashes stuck together, caked with blood._

 _Gladio sucked in a sharp, horrified breath and quickly turned his head away._

 _Ignis' left eye was completely destroyed._ _Nothing remained of the once lively, green-eyed gaze he adored_ _. Gladio considered himself able to handle even the most gruesome of field injuries, but the sight of his lover's decimated eye left him breathless. The entire eye had been compressed to half its size, charring around the edges indicating Ignis had been subjected to an extremely pinpointed attack. Mangled tissue lay within the socket, pushed back considerably from the surface. The doctor shined her light out of habit, sweeping it across the tortured face of the unconscious young man. She shook her head as she pocketed the penlight._

 _Gladio clenched his fists, out of sight of the good doctor. He wanted nothing more than to scour Altissia until he found the bastards that had done this—and make them pay._

" _I think you already know what I'm going to say. There's no way he'll ever see out of this eye again. I can't fix this damage." Her words were quiet and sad. "I'm afraid Mr. Scientia will be completely blind, barring any miracles."_

" _He doesn't believe in miracles…"_

 _The doctor looked up to the warrior with hopeful eyes. "Do you?"_

" _Not anymore…" Gladio turned his attention back to Ignis._

 _She nodded knowingly as she applied some salve to the burn surrounding the dagger-slinger's eye. When she was satisfied there was enough balm, she unrolled a long strip of gauze bandage. "Lift his head?"_

 _Gladio lovingly slipped his strong hands underneath Ignis' head, feeling the heavy weight of unconsciousness on his palms. The doctor systematically wrapped the bandages around Ignis' eyes, making multiple rounds until she ran out of gauze. Gladio eased Ignis' head back onto the pillow._

" _It needs to stay on for at least a day. Don't get it wet." She affixed a few pieces of tape to the fabric, securing it tightly. "Tomorrow night you can remove it and re-apply the salve. Then, if he's feeling up to it, he can get up and shower. You'll need to carefully dry and re-wrap his eyes afterwards, though. Keep the bandages on for two more days."_

" _Salve…shower…right…" Gladio tried to remember her directions, but his mind was having trouble focusing. All he could do was stare at that pristine white bandage encircling Ignis' head, knowing the horrors that lay beneath._

 _Once more, the doctor inserted a needle into Ignis' arm, giving him a dose of antibiotics. "He should rest comfortably for at least another six hours. Once the pain meds wear off, he can take the pills I'm leaving if he needs to." She busied herself cleaning up supplies, stowing her equipment in her medical bag. Then she listened to his heart and stood to leave. "He'll physically recover—in time. But he's going to need you to guide him through the emotional minefield that is sure to come."_

" _Me?"_

" _You…are together, aren't you?" An embarrassed smile crossed her face. "Forgive me if I've misspo—"_

" _I'll be here for him." Gladio forced a tired smile._

" _Good. He's going to need all the support you can give." She took her leave, closing the bedroom door behind her…_

Stirring beside him caught Gladio's attention, and he snapped back to reality just in time to see Ignis flex his fingers as he regained consciousness. A groggy, pained moan tumbled from dry lips. Gladio sat forward, scooting the chair on the marble floor. The legs screeched on the stone, and he winced at the unwanted noise.

"Gladio? Is that you?" Ignis reached out gingerly, pawing in the darkness for something solid to touch. His voice was laden with fatigue, no doubt a partial result of the pain medication.

"Right here, Iggy." Gladio found Ignis' hand and squeezed. "Just relax."

Ignis sighed heavily, momentarily brought back under by the dissipating drugs. A minute passed before he spoke again, his fingertips ghosting over the top of Gladio's hand. "My head hurts…"

"I don't doubt that for one second." Gladio didn't have the heart to tell him what had happened. Not yet. "How 'bout some water?"

"Please…" Ignis turned his head towards the sound of Gladio's voice. A moment later, the warrior cradled his head and tipped it forward, holding a glass to his lips. Ignis drank slowly, stopping only when some of the liquid dripped from the corner of his mouth. When he finished, he let his head fall back onto the pillow with an exhausted sigh. For several minutes he lay there, unmoving. Gladio thought he may have fallen asleep, the medications still having some sort of hold over his body and mind.

Suddenly, Ignis' mouth widened and he sucked in a frantic, surprised breath. "Where's Noct?" He tried to sit up, only to find himself gently pushed back onto the bed.

"He's in the next room. He's out cold, but the doc says he'll wake up soon." Gladio ran his hand through Ignis' hair to soothe him.

"But…" Ignis tried to sit up again, and Gladio applied gentle but firm pressure on his shoulders, easing him down once more. "…I need to…"

"Iggy, he's _fine._ Leave your duty behind for now. You need to rest." Gladio watched as Ignis calmed. Whether it was from sheer exhaustion or a genuine desire to comply, he didn't know. It was so hard to see him struggle. Ignis was usually strong and confident, and to see him worried and unsure was heartbreaking. He just wanted the old Ignis back—and knew that would more than likely never happen. Everything had changed. His stomach began to churn, and Gladio felt uncharacteristically nervous. The image of Ignis' unconscious form, his head lying in a pool of his own blood, flooded back into his mind. Before he could stop himself, Gladio found words breaking his lips.

"You really scared me. I thought I was going to lose you. When I found you…"

"Found? The last thing I recall is…" Ignis struggled to bring the past day to memory. "…nothing. I…don't remember." Bringing his free hand up to his face, Ignis gently ran his fingertips over the gauze wrappings.

Gladio's heart sunk as he watched Ignis begin to realize the horrible truth.

"My eyes are bandaged." Ignis felt his way across his face. "I assume I've sustained a rather terrible injury?"

Gladio struggled to find words. "Iggy…" He blew out a long, shaky breath, trying to stay strong, to support Ignis. But his resolve was faltering. "…I…don't know how to…"

"I'm blind."

Gladio nodded his response, instantly kicking himself. There was no way Ignis could have seen him, bandages or no bandages. "The doc says you might be able to see out of the right one if it heals, but…"

"The left eye is destroyed. I can feel it."

Not what Gladio wanted to hear. All this time, when Ignis had been under the influence of medication, he had at least been comforted by the fact that his partner wasn't in any discomfort. Now awake, Ignis must have been suffering immensely. And to be able to— _feel_ —that his eye was practically gone…it made him sick to his stomach. Gladio just wanted to take the pain away.

In that moment, he felt so small. So weak. Not befitting of the king's shield, for sure. Some guardian he was—unable to protect Noctis, and unable to protect the one he loved. A failure of the highest degree. Gladio wanted to punch something, to feel the sting of adrenaline course through his fist and up his arm as he made contact. Maybe that would at least make him feel stronger. Because looking at Ignis—helpless and blind—was something he wasn't prepared to do any longer.

He considered leaving. Ignis didn't need his negative energy, his inability to possess the strength needed to continue. What did it matter, anyway? Lunafreya was dead, Noct was at the mercy of his destiny, and Eos was headed for doom at the hands of the Starscourge. They had failed in the most spectacular of fashions. He stood, letting Ignis' hand fall limply from his own. Lingering for a moment, he began to walk away, even when his brain screamed at him to stop.

"Gladio…" Ignis' calm voice brought him back from the brink. Even with his sight stolen, and his body battered and bruised, he still managed to exude the dignity and poise that only he could. He always knew what Gladio needed to hear. "…don't go."

He felt like an ass. Had he really been that close to abandoning Ignis? Here he was, perfectly healthy and unscathed—and he had almost run like a coward. His lover's life would never be the same and yet he showed no signs of surrender. Hell, mere moments after waking up, he had been ready to dash to Noctis' side, even though he could no longer see. Gladio turned to face Ignis once more. He looked so peaceful, even with bandages obscuring his face and his torso flecked with too many small cuts to count.

A tired sigh escaped his lips, and the warrior did the only thing he could do in that second. He pulled back the covers and slid beside his partner, easing Ignis over with a gentle nudge. They lay there for an eternity in the solitude of a sleeping city, Gladio's arm wrapped protectively around the person he held most dear. Ignis' breathing finally settled into a deep, rhythmic pattern. Sleep he so desperately needed had come easily for him.

Gladio turned his head and lightly kissed Ignis' forehead.

All the questions he had could be answered later. All the what-if's dealt with when everyone had time to process. Right now, it just needed to be _them._ The future would be coming soon enough—whether they were ready for it or not.

Gladio finally allowed sleep to overtake him, even though his mind still raced.

 _-end-_

 _A/N: Thanks to Saber Wing for being a totally rad beta! It's awesome to have someone to share ideas with—and send "EUREKA" texts to! And I even wait until acceptable times during the day, not 3 a.m., thankyouvermuch._


End file.
